News & Culture

Yes, That Arrested Development Roundtable Was Shocking—but Not Unfamiliar to Many Women

Image may contain Furniture Couch Living Room Indoors Room Human Person Will Arnett Chair Clothing and Shoe
The cast of 'Arrested Development' in a scene from the fifth season.Saeed Adyani/Netflix

The fifth season of the cult-favorite show Arrested Development will show up in your Netflix queue on May 29—and, based on early reviews, is pretty funny. The behind-the-scenes situation on the show, though, is anything but.

As an avid fan since Arrested Development started airing on Fox in 2003, I've been looking forward to diving back into the absurdist world of the Bluths, their ridiculous chicken dances, and the family banana stand (where there's always money). But some of that excitement has been marred by the harassment allegations surrounding Jeffrey Tambor.

In February the actor was fired from his other show Transparent in light of sexual misconduct accusations by two transgender women—Van Barnes and Trace Lysette—who work on the series. (In a recent interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Tambor admits to having anger issues but denies sexually harassing his colleagues on the show.)

Now a New York Times roundtable with the cast has people fired up. The headline alone—"We Sat Down With the 'Arrested Development' Cast. It Got Raw"—sets you up for something heavy, but what comes next is both shocking and infuriating.

Writer Sopan Deb assembles stars Tambor, Jason Bateman, Jessica Walter, Alia Shawkat, Will Arnett, David Cross, and Tony Hale for a conversation about the new season; naturally, the Tambor situation came up. The reaction from the men (Deb, excluded) in the room? Well, I'm kicking myself for being surprised at that. Because frankly, it's a moment that, as women, we've all had.

In the aforementioned Hollywood Reporter interview, Tambor (in discussing his anger issues) referenced a "blowup" with costar Walter on the Arrested Development set. At the time her rep said, "Jessica does not wish to talk about Jeffrey Tambor.” But in the Times piece, the incident comes up again, and this time they're sitting in the same room together.

The dialogue exchange is indeed a tough read, but won't be unfamiliar. The male cast members, particularly Bateman, effusively leap to Tambor's defense and talk over Walter, who is attempting to express how she felt about Tambor's alleged verbal abuse, which she clarifies was not sexual in nature.

Listening to the discussion is even more difficult—the emotion in Walter's voice is so palpable as the men talk over her. We reached out to The New York Times for the audio, which they declined, but you can hear that exchange here.

See the exchange, below:

NYT: From the Hollywood Reporter interview, you talked about how you yelled at directors, assistant directors, the Transparent creator Jill Soloway. You even said at one point you lashed out at—

WALTER: Jessica Walter.

[LAUGHTER]

BATEMAN: Which we’ve all done, by the way.

WALTER: Oh! You’ve never yelled at me.

BATEMAN: Not to belittle what happened.

WALTER: You’ve never yelled at me like that.

BATEMAN: But this is a family and families, you know, have love, laughter, arguments—again, not to belittle it, but a lot of stuff happens in 15 years. I know nothing about Transparent, but I do know a lot about Arrested Development. And I can say that no matter what anybody in this room has ever done—and we’ve all done a lot, with each other, for each other, against each other—I wouldn’t trade it for the world and I have zero complaints.

ARNETT: I can say that I keyed Bateman’s car. I never admitted that. Because I was like, look at this guy, taking up a spot and a half.

CROSS: You know, one thing that Jeffrey has said a number of times that I think is important, that you don’t often hear from somebody in his position, is that he learned from the experience and he’s listening and learning and growing. That’s important to remember.

WALTER [to the Times]: What was your point about that, though?

NYT: If someone approached you and said, “OK, here’s an actor that admits he routinely yells at directors, at assistant directors, at coworkers, assistants,” would you hire that person?

TAMBOR: I would hire that person if that person said, you know, “I’ve reckoned with this.”

NYT: And you feel like you have?

TAMBOR: And I have, and am continuing to do. And I profusely have apologized. Ms. Walter is indeed a walking acting lesson. And on Transparent, you know, I had a temper and I yelled at people and I hurt people’s feelings. And that’s unconscionable, and I’m working on it and I’m going to put that behind me, and I love acting.

BATEMAN: Again, not to belittle it or excuse it or anything, but in the entertainment industry it is incredibly common to have people who are, in quotes, “difficult.” And when you’re in a privileged position to hire people, or have an influence in who does get hired, you make phone calls. And you say, “Hey, so I’ve heard X about person Y, tell me about that.” And what you learn is context. And you learn about character and you learn about work habits, work ethics, and you start to understand. Because it’s a very amorphous process, this sort of [expletive] that we do, you know, making up fake life. It’s a weird thing, and it is a breeding ground for atypical behavior and certain people have certain processes.

SHAWKAT: But that doesn’t mean it’s acceptable. And the point is that things are changing, and people need to respect each other differently.

WALTER [through tears]: Let me just say one thing that I just realized in this conversation. I have to let go of being angry at him. He never crossed the line on our show, with any, you know, sexual whatever. Verbally, yes, he harassed me, but he did apologize. I have to let it go. [Turns to Tambor.] And I have to give you a chance to, you know, for us to be friends again.

TAMBOR: Absolutely.

WALTER: But it’s hard because honestly—Jason says this happens all the time. In like almost 60 years of working, I’ve never had anybody yell at me like that on a set. And it’s hard to deal with, but I’m over it now. I just let it go right here, for The New York Times.

Walter sounds like she's crying as she tells these men that nobody has ever treated her this way during her long career. And Tambor himself admits to at least a portion of his behavior, including this particular incident. But Bateman is practically tripping over himself to find an excuse for it, all while negating Walter's voice. Shawkat, the only other female in the room, is the one person who backs up her costar, but she's basically ignored as well. Bateman claims to not want to "belittle or excuse," but then does exactly that. It's maddening.

This situation will feel all too familiar to many women. Who among us hasn't sat in a meeting and been talked over by a man with a terrible idea? It's some next-level mansplaining, what Bateman is doing here. Does he really think he needs to explain the dynamics of a set to a woman who's worked in the industry for 60 years? Apparently, yes. Then there's the fact that Walter seems to feel compelled to be the one to diffuse the situation and "let it go" when none of this was her doing in the first place. That rings so true to the female experience as well.

Because this conversation is so sadly familiar, the reaction to the story online was quick and fierce.

X content

This content can also be viewed on the site it originates from.

Writer Jessica Valenti dubbed Bateman's behavior "toxic complicity," which feels like an accurate descriptor.

X content

This content can also be viewed on the site it originates from.

X content

This content can also be viewed on the site it originates from.

Bateman himself took to Twitter early this morning to apologize after the backlash. "Based on listening to the NYT interview and hearing people’s thoughts online, I realize that I was wrong here," he wrote. "I sound like I’m condoning yelling at work. I do not. It sounds like I’m excusing Jeffery. I do not. It sounds like I’m insensitive to Jessica. I am not. In fact, I’m horrified that I wasn’t more aware of how this incident affected her."

"I was so eager to let Jeffrey know that he was supported in his attempt to learn, grow, and apologize that I completely underestimated the feelings of the victim, another person I deeply love—and she was," he continued. "I’m incredibly embarrassed and deeply sorry to have done that to Jessica. This is a big learning moment for me. I shouldn’t have tried so hard to mansplain, or fix a fight, or make everything OK. I should’ve focused more on what the most important…. Part of it all is—there’s never any excuse for abuse, in any form, from any gender. And the victim’s voice needs to be heard and respected. Period. I didn’t say that and instead said a bunch of other stuff and not very well. I deeply, and sincerely, apologize."

X content

This content can also be viewed on the site it originates from.

X content

This content can also be viewed on the site it originates from.

X content

This content can also be viewed on the site it originates from.

X content

This content can also be viewed on the site it originates from.

Listen, it's a good thing that Bateman apologized but frustrating that this has to continue to be explained to men in our lives. These types of conversations happen in front of our faces—and behind our backs—every single day. That's we have to constantly fight to change the default position from "defend the other guy" to "listen when a woman is talking." It's exhausting work, but it must continue.